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That stretch of road at mile 31 on the Western Highway is considered one of the most dangerous in Belize. The surface is quartz and the slightest rain produces a film of super-slick grime on the surface – which has caused literally dozens of accidents many of them fatal. That’s where Manuel Esquivel was almost killed in March of this year and now finally it’s getting resurfaced. But it’s not just any old resurfacing; it’s a new technique imported form Guatemala which covers the road in a low cost, hi traction surface and more than that it’s free – or at least for this first time it is. That’s because the company which is doing the re-surfacing called Cidelate Belize is giving the Ministry of Works one kilometre of road resurfacing as a free trial. It went down yesterday and we found out more.

Hon. Anthony Boots Martinez, Minister of Works
“As you know that there was and there were accidents including the former Prime Minister who had an accident here so believe this slipper slope which was ill-advised in the first instance needed for the motoring public to get a better riding quality and this company is providing this one kilometre of work for us free of cost. A move like this will save a lot of lives. We believe a move like this will definitely reduce a lot of accidents on the highway here.”

Cadet Henderson, CEO – Ministry of Works
“This is what we call a micro-pavement and the micro-pavement principally provides an overlay that seals out moisture because many pavements could have cracks and by moisture entering the cracks during rain and so on it reduces the life of the pavement. In this case, this serves a good method to improve the skid resistance of the pavement, in other words to make it less slippery which in turn reduces accidents. This area is one of our number one accident hotspots and so we are happy to be able to apply a proven methodology that is effective. It gives you the opportunity to correct any defamation.

It does not add to the structure and integrity of the pavement, it merely restores the surface condition but it is cheaper because the only other in-house or local technology that is available in Belize is surface dressing for overlaying. Hot mix would be three to five times more expensive and we expect this to be a fraction of the cost of the traditional surface dressing that we normally use. So the contractors will do their standard application to prove to us that it is worth the investment.

Within two to three months we will have a good sense of comfort of its performance. But within the first two weeks or so we will have a good idea of how well it fits into climate and the layer unto which they apply it because surface dressing that we use is not largely used in Guatemala which is the source of this technology.”

Hon. Anthony Boots Martinez,
“We believe that this is a more effective cost cutting measure, we will take a look at it, the people who are doing these work with provide us with an estimate, we will compare it, it is quick, it is easy, and it can be done.”

Henderson says the surfacing may also be used on the Hummingbird Highway where the top layer has been stripped and rutted in the Dangriga bound lanes which has been degraded due to the heavy traffic of oil bowsers.